The formation of Etiopia Inellectuals

Abstract

Broadly speaking, the history and, indeed, the fate of nations (whether ‘new’ or ‘old’) have been inextricably entwined with the formation of intellectuals. Nations that embarked on industrialization ahead of others (who were appropriately called ‘latecomers to development’) had a fully formed body of intellectuals that understood and championed such a course. The formation of intellectuals is therefore not only a precursor for the kind of development nations choose but also an indicator of whether they have waken up to such a quest in the first place The social, political and economic malaise in Africa and Asia has been partly attributed to the problem of formation of intellectuals. On the occasion of the Adwa centenary celebrations in Ethiopia in 1996, a government appointed coordinator referred to the absence of an educated elite at the time. Some have doubted if the same question was resolved even by 1991, let alone before the February 1974 Revolution. This paper therefore seeks to examine that question in light of the evidence in the last 150 years. It is organized in three sections following the three major periods the author discerns in Ethiopian intellectual history. The first section or period covers the thousands of years before the defeat of the Italian invasion at Adwa in 1896. The second section deals with the period stretching from 1896 to 1941: the defeat of the second Italian attempt to conquer Ethiopia and the rise of a centralised state which could introduce reforms without any worry that local warlords might object or stand in the way. The final section (relating to the period 1941 to 1975, perhaps beyond) covers the trials and tribulations of the rise of a new educated elite to positions of authority and influence whether in the state or in opposition to it. Subsequent developments are merely extensions or aberrations of the third period and the author would not propose to carve out a fourth one.